Rehabilitation Research and Development Service Scientific Merit Review Board; Notice of Meeting

The Department of Veterans Affairs gives notice under Pub. L. 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that a meeting of the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service Scientific Merit Review Board will be held on January 27-28, 2004, at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The sessions are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m. each day.

The purpose of the Board is to review rehabilitation research and development applications for scientific and technical merit and to make recommendations to the Director, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, regarding their funding.

The meeting will be open to the public for the January 27 session from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. for the discussion of administrative matters, the general status of the program and the administrative details of the review process. On January 27, from 9 a.m. through January 28, the meeting will be closed for the Board's review of research and development applications.

This review involves oral comments, discussion of site visits, staff and consultant critiques of proposed research protocols, and similar analytical documents that necessitate the consideration of the peresonal qualifications, performance and competence of individual research investigators. Disclosure of such information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Disclosure would also reveal research proposals and research underway which could lead to the loss of these projects to third parties and thereby frustrate future agency research efforts.

Thus, the closing is in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(6), and (c)(9)(B) and the determination of the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs under sections 10(d) of Pub. L. 92-463 as amended by section 5(c) of Pub. L. 94-409.

Those who plan to attend the open session should contact Ms. Victoria Mongiardo, Program Analyst, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service (122P), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20420, at (202) 254-0054.